Title
Approval of Interlocal Agreement Authorizing the Creation of a Firefighter Special Operations and Rescue Team
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee
City Manager Recommendation:
Move to approve the Interlocal Agreement authorizing the creation of a Firefighter Special Operations and Rescue Team and authorize the mayor to sign the agreement.
Report
Issue:
Whether to approve the agreement, which replaces an existing agreement for a Thurston County Special Operations and Rescue Team (SORT). The City of Olympia is a charter member of this team. This agreement new has language about rescue vehicle use not in the original document.
Staff Contact:
Greg Wright, Deputy Fire Chief
360.753.8466
Presenter(s):
None - Consent Calendar Item.
Background and Analysis:
The original document, Interlocal Agreement Authorizing the Creation of a Firefighter Special Operations and Rescue Team, was signed in 2010. The agreement does not terminate until mutual agreement of the parties. The original agreement did not address the insurance, storage, driving and use by members of vehicles not owned by the member’s home agency. The assumption was that the County Mutual Aid Agreement to which all members of the SORT are signatories covered the situation. When a situation arose that one member agency wanted to store a vehicle at another member agency’s station it was determined that the current Interlocal Agreement Authorizing the Creation of a Firefighter Special Operations and Rescue Team document nor the County Mutual Aid Agreement adequately covered the situation.
The original agreement created SORT as a multijurisdictional team of specially trained rescue members intended to compliment, and not to replace, the services already provided under the Thurston County Mutual Aid Agreement. The SORT responds to unique emergency rescue situations in which specialized training and expertise may be required. The multijurisdictional SORT responds county wide and occasionally into neighboring counties. SORT fulfills needs in the City of Olympia for a rescue team for Public Works and responds with the Olympia Fire Department when requested.
Olympia Fire Department has a large number of SORT-qualified members on duty at all times. When one of the other jurisdictions requested that OFD house one of the SORT vehicles not owned by the City at an Olympia station, it was determined that an updated agreement would be needed.
The new agreement took the language of the previously approved document and added information about the insurance, storage, maintenance, training and response with vehicles by SORT members regardless of the jurisdictional ownership of the vehicle. The new agreement replaces and supersedes all previous SORT agreements.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
N/A
Options:
1. Approve the Interlocal Agreement Authorizing the Creation of a Firefighter Special Operations and Rescue Team for the mayor’s signature. Including all associated documents.
2. Do not approve the Approve the Interlocal Agreement Authorizing the Creation of a Firefighter Special Operations and Rescue Team.
Financial Impact:
No new financial impact, this updated agreement clarifies the ability to use vehicles across jurisdictional ownership lines during training and response. Vehicle costs, maintenance, etc. that were not in the initial document have been addressed so as not to overly burden any jurisdiction.
Attachments:
Interlocal Agreement Authorizing the Creation of a Firefighter Special Operations and Rescue Team